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Thursday, October 30, 2025

Voters slow to return ballots

By Oliver J Moffat

Ballots are due by next Tuesday, November 4, 2025 and should be delivered to a King County drop box.

King County voters have been slow so far to return ballots for the 2025 general election compared to four years ago.

Ballot return statistics from the Secretary of State shows 23.4% of Boomers (65+) have returned ballots so far, while only 3.3% of Zoomers (18-24) have as of one week before the election

A week before the election, less than 11% of voters in King County had returned their ballots according to the Secretary of State. By one week before the election in 2021, 11.32% of voters had returned their ballots. (Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly reported the 2021 ballot return rate.)

Consistent with past elections, older voters are returning ballots at higher rates than younger generations. While 23.4% of Boomers (65+) have returned ballots so far, only 3.3% of Zoomers (18-24) have so far.

A map from the Secretary Of State’s website shows the locations of Ballot Drop Boxes and Voting Centers near North King County and South Snohomish county 

Return to a drop box, don’t mail your ballot. Here’s why:

Washington law requires ballots to be either postmarked by Election Day (Nov 4) or returned to a drop box by 8:00pm on Election Day.

However, the United States Postal Service (USPS) no longer guarantees same-day postmarking of ballots and Washington’s Secretary of State's office and County Auditors told voters to mail their ballots at least one week early because the post office might not be able to postmark ballots on time.

That means, if a voter wants to have their vote counted, they should deliver their ballot to a drop box.

The King County elections ballot drop box at the Shoreline Library where voters should return ballots
Photo by Oliver J Moffat

Ballot Drop Box Locations:

Locations of all ballot drop boxes and voting centers can be found on the Secretary of State's website

Here is a list of ballot drop boxes in North King County.
In north Seattle:
Ballots must be in the drop box by 8pm on Tuesday or they will not be counted.

Correction: ballot return rate


5 comments:

  1. There is less interest because there are no real choices. Do you want to vote for someone who wants to "build community" or the other guy who wants to "build community"? Not even too sure what that means but it doesn't seem like the job of an office holder.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why would anyone bother to vote when 12 of 14 positions on the ballot are uncontested? Democracy is lost,

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have not yet received my State of Washington booklet. I've been waiting for it to finish my ballot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Local libraries have booklets available, and you can find info online.

      Delete
  4. They were mailed a month ago. Here's the webpage with all the information. https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/data-research/election-data-and-maps/election-results-and-voters-pamphlets/2025-general-election-voters-guide

    ReplyDelete

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